August 16, 2008
Social Media is Corporate Media
I incurred what I still regard as an uneducated but accepted opinion of social networks among mature C-level executives during a customer visit yesterday. Couched with a tongue and cheek posture, a colleague who I respect greatly commented that "those social networks are a clausal waste of time, productivity and money to corporate America ... I can only imagine how much company time and money is burned by our younger staff browsing 20-something personal profiles in networks that add no value to anything the company does."
Ouch. It's been my experience that these types of opinions often come from experienced professionals who themselves who have not engaged in social media, have not recognized the transition from consumer networks to enterprise knowledge sharing and who often don't recognize the corporate benefits available from these tools.
While social networks became popular due to sites such as MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn, many forward thinking pioneers in corporate America have transitioned these ideas to their own networks (inside the firewall) for their own benefits - such as knowledge sharing and collaboration within the enterprise. IBM's Blue Pages, Deloitte's D Street, Microsoft's Town Square and Best Buy's BlueShirt Nation are corporate America's versions of consumer networks applied for enterprise purposes. And don't make the mistake of discounting these sites as vehicles for photo sharing or electronic water cooler chat - these sites are proven to accelerate and extend more meaningful connections among co-workers, thereby, dramatically influencing collaboration and cooperation across otherwise silo'd departments, divisions and geographical boundaries. The benefits are magnified when applied to virtual teams and remote staff who oftentimes otherwise lack a feeling of participation or belonging. Stronger relationships create the foundation for a more effective enterprise.
While the benefits to the enterprise are substantial, measurable and sustained, the benefits to social network participants are equally strategic. In Amy Sheun's Web 2.0: A Strategy Guide, she identifies several specific advantages that energize staff in their roles and responsibilities. I'll reiterate four which I've seen proven multiple times over.
First, staff have an on-demand and real-time tool for access to knowledge, know-how and know-who. Member profiles normally list skills, experiences, prior employers, personal interests and people connections. This information is a valuable search source, can circumvent otherwise lengthy hierarchical channels and can lead otherwise strangers into a helpful relationship.
Second, these tools offer staff an expansion of their social connections and broadening of affiliations - including their affiliation with their employer. Extending relationships among colleagues creates a bond which benefits each member and the enterprise.
Third, social networks provide a means for self-branding and establishing the baseline for personal identity expression.
Lastly, social networks provide a forum of trusted opinion and influence among members. Participants will look to their peers to see who recommends a product or solution or to see if somebody offers a rant, rave or testimonial on a topic. Members are passionate about sharing news of cool stuff - or about ranting when they get burned - and these experiences resonate with an extraordinarily high impact to their community circles.
Enterprises are inherently social organizations linked by common business purposes. Successful companies are built upon successful relationships - between recruiter and new-hire, manager and subordinate, salesperson and customer, buyer and supplier and so on. Enterprise social networks are outstanding tools for bringing resource and relationship visibility to enterprise workers.
When the costs of social network utilization (primarily time) within the enterprise are compared with the material benefits, more often than not, the positive ROI and payback is a no brainer. This is not to say that simply installing a social network will deliver predicted results. Like any other project, the basics of project management apply - executive sponsorship, clear goals, broad involvement, systemic implementation, timely measurements, feedback and adaptation and so on.
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Posted by Chuck Schaeffer on August 16, 2008 in Web 2.0, Enterprise 2.0 & Social Media
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READER COMMENTS
Enterprise 2.0 Growth?
Enterprise 2.0 is not being adopted by the corporate world in large part due to the reasons your client stated. If you're looking for Web 2.0 adoption at the corporate level, you may have to keep looking for a while.
Posted by anonymous on September 22, 2008
I Beg To Differ
While many companies have yet to embrace the principals of Enterprise 2.0, a recent 2008 McKinsey survey finds that corporate adoption of tools such as blogs, wikis, social networks and mash-ups has risen since 2007, which was the first year the survey was conducted, with companies on average adding three Web 2.0 tools to their technology portfolios. 34% of the companies surveyed indicate they are adopting blogs, compared with 21% a year ago. Corporate RSS syndication jumped from 24% in 2007 to 33% in 2008 and wiki adoption grew from 24% in 2007 to 32% in 2008. This particular survey of 1,988 business executives also drilled down to the most cited reasons for Enterprise 2.0 adoption. 83% of those surveyed indicated they were using Web 2.0 tools to 'manage knowledge', while 78% reported that their goal was to 'foster collaboration' and 74% indicated they desired to enhance company culture. While I recognize that two consecutive years of survey results make a line and not a trend, I believe the results are reflective of the industry at large and expect to see continued evolution in future surveys.
Posted by Chuck Schaeffer on September 22, 2008
Don't Discount The Consumer Side
Don't downplay the consumer bend
of web 2. Don't exploit enterprise 2.
Posted by hammer on August 21, 2008
OK
I don't really know what that means, but OK. Recognize that I'm now going to post some type of pro-mega corporation spiel on dancejam - and I intend to use the word 'paradigm' repeatedly.
Posted by Chuck Schaeffer on August 21, 2008
Lets Talk Some More
Chuck, you probably never thought I'd read this. In fairness, it was brought to my attention by Melissa who spotted it and pointed it out to me. It seems I came to Boca for CRM lessons and left with commentary on social media. Your points are interesting. I'm not going to go so far as to suggest you can teach an old dog new tricks, however, I'm at least open to hearing more about the upside and possibly applying a cost/benefit analysis to the concept. I'm sure Jerry and Janice will thank you. Lets talk some more.
Posted by Reg Sofferman on August 19, 2008
CRM & Social Media Go Hand In Glove
I was hopeful but skeptical you might actually read the blog post. In reality, I blogged this topic not because of our conversation but because their is an entire generation of seasoned executives that can benefit from exploring enterprise 2.0 tools, methods and practices. CRM, Enterprise 2.0 and social media are extremely complimentary and can all clearly play contributing roles for most organizations CRM strategies. I'll reach out to you tomorrow when I return to the office.
Posted by Chuck Schaeffer on August 19, 2008
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